Boris drove faster than he ever had, our car shooting through the city. It still didn’t seem enough for me. I wanted him to drive faster.
A man of my caliber wasn’t scared of anything because I’d seen it all. Gunfire. Death. Explosions. Ambush. But none of those ever made me panic. Yet here I was, scared half to death over this situation.
Maybe the reason for my fear was because I had no control whatsoever. And that made me feel helpless.
“Faster, Boris!”
The tires squealed as he took a sharp, reckless turn, the car swerving without warning. Ahead, the traffic light just turned red, but Boris had no intention of slowing down. Heslammed the accelerator, speeding past the queue of waiting vehicles.
“Hold on for me, Kiera,” I whispered, stroking her hair. “We’re almost there.”
We turned down another street, and the hospital came into view. The lights shone bright in the distance like a beacon of hope. Boris sped into the emergency entrance and brought the car to a quick halt, making the tires screech.
Polina was the first to get out. She grabbed the handle of the backseat door and yanked it open. I stepped out, carrying my wife in my arms as I raced toward the E.R.
Boris pushed the doors open, and I rushed into the corridor, yelling, “Help!”
The lady behind the counter rose to her feet, calling out and signaling her colleagues.
“I need a doctor, now!”
Orderlies raced forward in the blink of an eye, throwing questions at me as they took her from my arms. A lot was going on in my head, so I couldn’t catch all they were asking about.
“Uhh….” I rubbed my forehead, watching them transfer her onto a stretcher. “One minute she was fine; the next, she passed out.”
They clasped an oxygen mask on her face as they rolled the stretcher along the lit hallway, their footsteps rapid and urgent.
One of them said something about her pulse being weak, and that scared the shit out of me. I rushed them, terrified of what might happen to her.
“You have to save my wife—she’s pregnant,” I said to the woman who’d been calling the shots since we arrived.
“Name, please.”
“It’s Kiera. Kiera Tarasov.”
“All right, Kiera, if you can hear me, I’m gonna need you to squeeze my hand,” the woman said, looking down at my wife’s pale face.
No response.
Fuck.
They rushed into a ward and closed the door behind them. When I tried to go in, one of the nurses stepped in my way.
“Sir, you’re not allowed in there,” she said politely, her voice laced with urgency.
“That’s my wife!” I barked.
“Boss.” Boris grabbed my shoulder and pulled me aside. “Get a hold of yourself.”
“I need to be in there, Boris,” I said, attempting to move past him, but he wouldn’t budge. “I need to know what’s going on.”
“And you will.” He looked right at me, as if reminding me of who I was. “Calm down.”
“Fuck.” I combed my hair backward, sinking into the steel behind me.
My feet tapped rapidly against the floor, my heart racing in my chest. The mere thought of losing her or the baby was making me go insane.
“I’ll go fetch you some coffee,” Polina said to me.
